According to McKinsey, our organizations make 4 common mistakes when they set out to develop leaders. Here are ways to avoid those and make your efforts succeed.
1. Before planning a leadership initiative, ask yourselves "what, precisely is this program for?". That answer will help you identify a small number of competencies that will make a significant difference to your performance.
2. Tie leadership development to real on-the-job projects that have a buseinss impact and improve learning. Don't just provide the benefit of going off-site and reflecting.
3. Identify the mindsets of your leaders that drive their behavior which will be uncomfortable but will make learning last. For example, promoting delegation and empowerment is good in theory, but will not last if participants have a "controlling" mindset. That mindset needs to be surfaced and replaced with something that will cause lasting change.
4. Measure the results of leadership initiatives beyond participant feedback. Track and measure changes in leadership performance over time, for example through a 360-degree feedback process at the beginning of the program followed by another one after 6-12 months. This can be modelled by the CEO who can go through this process and publish results (good and bad) for everyone to see.
Register NOW for the 2025 NEXT Retreat!
If you are a 50+ year old woman and know intuitively that there are opportunities ahead if you can leave behind a lifelong routine, a career and an identity you have claimed, consider coming to our 2025 NEXT retreat. Spots are filling up, and we will stop taking registrations when we get to 10 women! Visit https://nextchapterretreat.org/ for more information or dm me or Linda Christopherson to get your questions answered.
Give yourself the gifts of time, support, and comfort to plan your next chapter.
If you are a woman over 50, give yourself the gift of a long weekend in a beautiful, comfortable place with a supportive group and a meaningful way to plan a satisfying next chapter. We’d love to have you and limit the group size to 10.
Reserve September 18-21 and reserve your spot now!
Apply your DiSC style to enhance your goals for 2025!
We can apply our DiSC style to our New Year Resolutions to reach our dreams and accomplish our goals. Some examples are:
Health and Wellness: For D-styles, challenge yourself by setting fitness goals with specific targets, while I-styles might benefit from joining group workout sessions for motivation and social interaction.
Career Development: As C-styles, you may aim for certifications or skill enhancement, while S-styles might prefer to focus on strengthening professional connections.
Relationships: Understanding DISC can strengthen personal relationships by adapting communication styles to suit your partner's or family member's preferences, thereby fostering deeper connections and understanding.
I wish you a healthy and meaningful 2025.
Apply your DiSC style to enhance your goals for 2025!
We can apply our DiSC style to our New Year Resolutions to reach our dreams and accomplish our goals. Some examples are:
Health and Wellness: For D-styles, challenge yourself by setting fitness goals with specific targets, while I-styles might benefit from joining group workout sessions for motivation and social interaction.
Career Development: As C-styles, you may aim for certifications or skill enhancement, while S-styles might prefer to focus on strengthening professional connections.
Relationships: Understanding DISC can strengthen personal relationships by adapting communication styles to suit your partner's or family member's preferences, thereby fostering deeper connections and understanding.
I wish you a healthy and meaningful 2025.
Come to our 2025 NEXT retreat!
Our 2025 NEXT retreat is booking up fast - if a long weekend in a beautiful setting with a balance of privacy and connection, to plan the next chapter of your life, consider joining us! More information here and we are happy to answer any questions.
https://nextchapterretreat.org/
Respond to market trends successfully!
Wiley Workplace Intelligence regularly examines market forces shaping our shared future, and their November 2024 report reveals these shifts:
1. The Reality of Workplace Change. Change has become a constant in today’s workplace, but successfully navigating it is far from straightforward. According to Accenture, 70% of transformation efforts fail, largely because employees aren’t fully engaged in the process. 96% of employees report feeling stressed about change, and for 69%, unclear communication intensifies that stress.
2. Why Employee Engagement Matters. Engagement has always been a key driver of performance, but its significance is now amplified. When employees feel connected to their work and organization, they are 18% more productive, according to Gallup. Conversely, disengagement costs the U.S. economy $1.9 trillion in lost productivity each year. As the C-suite prioritizes engagement-driving efforts, they are recognizing key drivers such as a connection to company purpose, professional development, and enabling high-quality workplace relationships—particularly the relationship between an employee and their manager.
3. Learning and Development: A Strategic Function in the Workplace. L&D is rising in strategic importance within organizations surveyed. 60% of L&D professionals surveyed agree that their function has a new and durable seat at the decision-making table. Another change within the global Learning and Development practice is the evolution and expansion of training modalities, driven by a recognition that today’s employees require personalized, continuous, and solution-oriented learning that is integrated directly into their workflow.
4. The Growing Reliance on People Managers to Drive Professional Development As L&D’s influence grows, so does its reliance on people managers to bridge the gap between learning and real-world application. Managers play a vital role in encouraging participation in learning and providing feedback on performance. Yet many managers lack the training needed to fulfill these responsibilities. 49% of managers report severe stress levels, and nearly 60% of employees surveyed agree that their manager would benefit from additional training with a shocking 67% reporting that they’ve either quit or considered quitting their job due to poor management.
All of these trends point to the Everything DiSC suite of profiles as a valuable tool to increase engagement, link management behaviors to strategic priorities, and make change smoother. DM me for a demo!
Build your Sales Team’s Performance!
Last call for free webinar: PXT Select® in Action: Building High-Performing Sales Teams
Monday, December 2, 2024
10:00 am - 11:00 am (Chicago) | 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm (London)
Top salespeople play a critical role in the success of any business.
According to research from Mckinsey & Company, these top performers can be 4x more productive than bottom performers. They consistently meet (or even surpass) their sales targets, clearly understand their client’s needs, and easily adapt in all situations.
Now imagine if you could not only discover your top performers’ secret sauce—but also replicate it? You could increase sales productivity, conversion rates, and YoY growth. PXT Select® and its AI-based testing algorithms are your gateway to this transformation!
Join our virtual showcase to explore how PXT Select has propelled other organizations to sales successes—and how it can revolutionize yours! You’ll gain:
· Actionable Insights: Identify essential data to strategically evolve your sales team for a thriving future.
· Empowering Tools: Explore resources that bolster both sales leaders and their teams toward success.
· Proven Strategies: Hear success stories from various organizations and their journey with PXT Select.
Don’t miss this opportunity to see PXT Select in Action!
By attending the event, you'll earn a SHRM Recertification Professional Development credit!
DM me so I can register you and if you can’t make that time, you’ll get the recording to watch at your convenience.
Happy Thanksgiving!
4 DISC Personality Tips to De-Stress During Thanksgiving
Discover DISC personality tips to reduce stress during Thanksgiving and enjoy the holiday season with less anxiety and more joy.
The holiday season can be a time of joy—but it’s also notorious for adding stress to our lives. According to the American Psychological Association, 38% of people report an increase in stress during the holidays, often due to financial pressures, time constraints, and the overwhelming hype of holiday commercialism. For many, the workplace can add to the tension, with 56% of individuals reporting that their job is more stressful than home during this time, citing reasons like heavy workloads, lack of satisfaction, and limited opportunities for advancement.
With Thanksgiving just around the corner, it’s the perfect time to prioritize relaxation and enjoyment—both at the office and around the dinner table. DISC offers a unique lens to approach this busy season by identifying how different personality styles can manage stress and thrive during social gatherings. Developed from William Marston'sDISC theory, this system categorizes behavior into four primary traits: Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, and Compliance. If you’re unfamiliar with your DISC style, consider taking a DISC personality assessment from PeopleKeys to gain valuable insights into your behavior, communication style, and productivity.
Below, we’ve provided Thanksgiving tips tailored to each DISC personality style to help you enjoy a more relaxed holiday season.
1. Thanksgiving Tip for D Personality Style
Your natural leadership skills make it tempting to take control of the kitchen—whether that’s cooking everything yourself or managing everyone else’s contributions. You’re the one who wants to set the menu, choose the desserts, and assign tasks to family members.
This year, try stepping back and allowing others to play a larger role. Focus on preparing just one simple dish instead of managing the entire meal. Take the opportunity to relax—curl up on the couch to watch the game or take a moment to reflect on what you’re thankful for. Letting go of some control can help you truly enjoy the holiday.
2. Thanksgiving Tip for I Personality Style
As the social butterfly of your circle, you thrive on connecting with people. Whether it’s sending out holiday invitations or curating the perfect guest list, you excel at bringing people together.
However, your excitement can sometimes lead to overlooking key details. Avoid last-minute stress by creating a plan in advance—like a grocery list or a schedule for the day. And remember to take a break from social media during the holiday. Spending quality, undistracted time with loved ones will leave you feeling recharged. Don’t worry—Facebook will still be there when you return!
3. Thanksgiving Tip for S Personality Style
Known for your dependability, you’re often the go-to person for family and friends who need support. Whether it’s running out to replace a burnt pie or peeling extra potatoes at the last minute, you’re always ready to help.
This Thanksgiving, prioritize self-care. It’s okay to say no to extra tasks or step away from being everyone’s problem-solver. By setting boundaries and making time for yourself, you can avoid burnout and enjoy the holiday—even if the turkey comes out a little crispy.
4. Thanksgiving Tip for C Personality Style
Your attention to detail makes you the ideal person to organize holiday logistics, from coordinating who’s bringing each dish to finding the best grocery deals. You’re great at crunching numbers and ensuring everything is just right.
But remember: not everything will go according to plan—and that’s okay. Try to embrace the unexpected and focus on enjoying the moment. Sometimes, the best memories come from a little chaos!
Build Engagement using Everything DiSC!
One of the strategies in Gallup’s 2024 Employee Engagement Strategies report is "Prepare managers to have meaningful conversations with their employees."
Gallup researchers studied the most common characteristics of extremely meaningful and less meaningful conversations. These are the top 5 characteristics of meaningful conversations, in order of importance:
1) Recognition or appreciation for recent work.
2) Collaboration and relationships.
3) Current goals and priorities at work.
4) The length of the conversation: Between 15 and 30 minutes is enough time for a meaningful conversation, but only if it happens frequently.
5) Employee strengths or the things they do well: Managers can have much more meaningful discussions about how each person gets their work done if those conversations are based on what they do best.
The takeaway is that feedback is meaningful to employees when their manager focuses on recognition, collaboration, goals and priorities, and strengths. And if these conversations happen every week, they can be brief. Naturally, problems and challenges will arise — and managers and employees should discuss them — but to improve engagement, managers must have conversations that inspire each individual.
Everything DiSC is a language your organization can use to build rapport and therefore engagement between managers and employees. DM me for a demo or more information.
Learn about Empowerment in a free webinar!
Want to learn for an hour about something impactful at no charge to you?
In today’s fast-paced work environment, prioritizing employee well-being and satisfaction is essential. Empowering employees to use their judgment fosters ownership, leading to innovation, efficient problem-solving, and greater agility, while increased engagement improves retention and creates a pipeline of future leaders.
Join Dr. Mark Scullard, Sr. Director of Product Innovation, Wiley Assessment Brands, for this 60-minute webinar where you will learn:
• The unique empowerment needs of different DiSC styles.
• How to identify and address potential blind spots to ensure effective and genuine empowerment.
• Practical strategies for using Everything DiSC® on Catalyst™ to empower direct reports.
DM me today to let me know which time works for you and learn how you can help managers in your organization unlock their teams’ full potential! And if you can’t attend at that time, register anyway so you will get the recording.
November 13, 11-noon EST
December 11, 11-noon EST
January 22, 11-noon EST
Transform teamwork in your organization!
The way we “team” is more complex than ever before.
Whether we are collaborating in person, through screens, or a little of both, building a successful team can feel downright impossible. But what if it doesn’t have to feel that way?
Through impactful virtual and classroom learning experiences that empower individuals through self-discovery and constructive behavioral modeling, The Five Behaviors® is the only team development solution that rewrites the traditional rules for teamwork to build stronger teams. Transforming the team dynamic from disengaged to “let’s do this!”
This content has both individual profiles as well as those for the whole team. It’s a powerful combination to have self-aware team members who have the tools to make room for each other’s styles and preferences.
DM me for more info or a demo.
Use Catalyst™ on demand to build engagement, collaboration and fun!
Would you or your colleagues benefit from having an on-demand platform that helps you work with each other at any time and on any device?
Everything DiSC® on Catalyst™ is a personal development learning experience that equips you with the social and emotional know-how for more effective interactions at work—no matter who or where you are.
By combining the proven DiSC® model with flexible facilitation and a powerful learning platform, Everything DiSC® on Catalyst™ helps you:
• Better understand yourself
• Appreciate and value differences in perspective and approach
• Readily and consistently adapt to the unique needs of each person or situation you encounter
The result is lasting impact. When you use Everything DiSC® on Catalyst™ , the hard work of long-lasting behavior change is possible…even fun. When your organization uses Everything DiSC® on Catalyst™ , you will have a more engaged, collaborative, and adaptive culture that drives results.
If you use this, you will take one assessment one time and if you are interested in further content, you don't have to answer more questions. And until 12.31.25, you can upgrade all existing DiSC learners in your organization to Catalyst AT NO ADDITIONAL COST!
Check out this video to see more and email me at karen@karengeiger.com to bring Catalyst to your organization!
Build engagement through your managers
As you probably know, engagement is a top priority in today’s workforce. Wiley’s Workplace Initiatives research shows that:
o Engaged teams are 18% more productive than disengaged teams,
o Disengagement costs the US economy $1.9 trillion in lost productivity/year, and
o 70% of engagement variance stems from the manager relationship.
You can build your managers’ ability to build engagement by introducing them to Everything DiSC® Management, It offers a customizable development solution proven to increase the effectiveness of anyone in a management role--whether managing direct reports or the relationship with their own manager. We offer a complete program of classroom or virtual training, and online pre-work and follow-up focusing learning in five key areas:
*Understanding DiSC® styles
*Directing and delegating
*Creating a motivating environment
*Developing others with different styles
*Identifying strategies for working more effectively with managers.
Your managers will learn how their management style influences how they manage time, make decisions, approach problems, and what they need to do to adapt to the styles of others to bring out the best in each and every employee in their charge.
DM me now for a demo or more information.
L & D Takes a Seat at the Strategy Table
In McKinsey’s “The Essential Components of a Successful L&D Strategy” (2019), they observe that over the past decade, the global workforce has been continually evolving because of a number of factors:
* An increasingly competitive business landscape,
* rising complexity, and
* the digital revolution.
Meanwhile, persistent uncertainty, a multigenerational workforce, and a shorter shelf life for knowledge have placed a premium on reskilling and upskilling. The shift to a digital, knowledge-based economy means that a vibrant workforce is more important than ever and research suggests that a very significant percentage of market capitalization in public companies is based on intangible assets—skilled employees, exceptional leaders, and knowledge.
These factors have elevated the importance of the Learning-and-Development function in organizations and have placed them at the strategy table so that organizational strategy is linked to how the people will carry it out.
If your team is certified in using the Everything DiSC Suite of profiles and related facilitation tools, you will gain credibility and be able to make this link seamlessly. If you have 5+ people to be certified, DM me to set up a certification series over 2 weeks at your convenience (4 live online sessions and some online prework) and if you have fewer than that, click here for dates I can get you registered for Wiley’s certification: https://lnkd.in/gnF24RKu. Same content either way.
Celebrating my 29 years as a Wiley Partner at their Summit in Minneapolis.
Counteract social media by building authentic relationships
Social media, while supposedly intending connection between, can increase feelings of loneliness (Needle, 2024, https://lnkd.in/e_RffUFm) and block interaction if only used passively. We can build more authentic connectivity by using tools designed for that and causing people to reflect on their own thoughts and reactions as well as respond to others' thoughts and reactions, so we build meaningful community.
If we leave our connectivity to social media's openness to disinformation and shared opinions without responses, we are at risk of destroying rather than building community.
I challenge you to choose someone you work with who you only see on social media, ask them if they are willing to do this, then dm me and each of you take an Everything DiSC Workplace profile then discuss the prompted questions to build a relationships away from social media.
Develop your organization's leadership capacity by using Everything DiSC Work of Leaders®
This program, profile and facilitation guide lays out a clear path for helping leaders at all levels make the connection between their DiSC® style and leadership. With one unified model of leadership—vision, alignment, and execution—it focuses on helping leaders understand their own leadership styles and how their tendencies influence their effectiveness in specific leadership situations.
Participants Take-Aways
*Recognize the priorities and tendencies, based on their own DiSC style, that shape their approach to the fundamental work of leaders: creating a vision, building alignment around that vision, and championing execution of the vision
*Explore in detail how to play to their strengths and overcome challenges to improve their leadership effectiveness
*Identify strategies to develop preferred behaviors based on context-specific best practices
Program Components
1. Everything DiSC Work of Leaders® Profile.
*Research-validated, online assessment. 23-page leader-specific profile report provides detailed context-specific feedback based on the three-step Vision, Alignment, and Execution Model and the three drivers associated with each step. Strong visuals and illustrations, including 18 behavioral continua, delve deep into what steps leaders can take to increase the behaviors linked to the essential best practices of leadership.
*Easily customizable. Remove or rearrange pages, customize the profile title, or print selected sections. The profile may be used on its own or with the companion facilitation (sold separately).
2. Facilitation Toolkit
*Five 60-90-minute modules, including fully-scripted facilitation dialogue to use with experiential learning activities and thought-provoking group discussions.
*Easily customizable. Create an end-to-end leadership development program or concentrate on specific areas. Switch out video clips. Modify the PowerPoint presentation, Leader’s Guide, and handouts. Add or delete sections to fit any timeframe.
*Engaging 17 video segments of contemporary leadership examples. Use as stand-alone clips or integrate with the facilitation PowerPoint or your custom PowerPoint presentation.
*36 dynamic podcast segments specific to one of the three components of the Work of Leaders model—vision, alignment, and execution. Learn first-hand how to interpret Work of Leaders continua to answer participant questions. Insightful information not available anywhere else.
DM me for more info or a demo profile!
Build individual and organizational capacity to make the most of teamwork in your organization
Get certified to create a lasting impact on your team members’ and organizational performance by adding The Five Behaviors® Certification to your portfolio!
In this two-week course combining live, instructor-led sessions with self-guided online learning, you will build your confidence and expertise in delivering impactful Five Behaviors® learning experiences that help build a culture of teamwork. Upon successful completion of the course work (including a score of 80% or above on the final Certification exam), you will earn the credential of The Five Behaviors Certified Practitioner— signaling proven competence in shaping engaged, cohesive, and high-performing teams—and knowledgeable in the language of The Five Behaviors.
Let me know you’re interested and find upcoming dates here: https://www.karengeiger.com/the-five-behaviors-facilitator-certificationkg.
Build productive conflict after this upcoming election
Robinson & Johnson (2024) suggest that every four years, a U.S. presidential election brings voters to an intersection where they decide whether to turn right or left. Halting at these intersections often brings heightened tension and polarizing discourse within our workplaces and society. Taking proactive measures to ensure the safety and well-being of employees and providing an environment conducive to effective collaboration among employees can help prevent fraught work environments from forming. Here are some practical procedures that employers may want to consider implementing throughout standard day-to-day operations, before and after an election, to efficiently navigate establishing ground rules and policies, fostering environments of open dialogue, and providing support.
We can use Everything DiSC® Productive Conflict to help workers improve self-awareness around conflict behaviors. Rather than focus on a step-by-step process for conflict resolution, Everything DiSC Productive Conflict provides participants with techniques to curb destructive behaviors and effectively respond to conflict situations. The program features an exploration of DiSC® in a conflict context, provides an opportunity for participants to explore their destructive conflict responses, and offers them a method for making more productive choices in their response to conflict.
Participant Take-Aways
*Appreciate how their style of handling conflict affects the people around them
*Learn how to “catch” themselves when going down a destructive conflict path
*Learn how to reframe a conflict situation and choose more productive behaviors
*Build a common language in the organization around appropriate conflict behavior
DM me for more info or an example.
